When we talk about movement and movement training there are 3 main areas that I continuously keep returning to in my own training practice and in my movement research.
I view each of these areas as a whole world on its own and each offers a lifetime of research and experience on so many levels.
Yet in my eyes incorporating these 3 areas into our daily practice would offer the most impact and will have a much more profound effect on our physical, mental and emotional health, and overall well being.
Functional movement - functional movement or functional training is looking at a human being and asking a simple question, what are the physical tasks that are most valuable for humans throughout their lifetime and what can we do to preserve these abilities as best as possible with time and to old age.
The main physical attributes we would want to address first of all are: standing, walking, running, jumping and lifting.
In today's world a person who can do all these by the age of 50 is becoming less and less common, and ofcourse when I talk about these 5 attributes we should have it mind that each and every one of them exist in a spectrum, of how strong, quick, efficient and / or pain free they can be performed , hence its name “functional”.
Its vital for each and every one of us will take time and reflect about his or hers physical condition in this state of time and ask our self, how well am I able to perform these tasks, if at all, and what step should I need to take to reintroduce these attributes to the body in a slow, gradual, harmonious but also consistent manner. It is true that some of these attributes are more required than others, and they all absolutely co dependent and built each upon the other, meaning for example: the way we stand influences the pattern of how we walk ( i.e walking gait).
Our walking gait in the case of too many compensations influences back on our standing posture, who in return causes more and more compromises up the body chain, as time goes by, and perhaps enhanced by a few injuries in our childhood and youth we begin to suffer from chronic pain in 1 or 2 or more places around the body. You can see now how easily this process eventually causes a cascade chain of reactions in the body’s functional abilities, and when left unaddressed (which is often the case) slowly but surely we start to lose these abilities that we considered so simple and trivial in the past.
Therefore in the practice it's important to take time and re-educate the body from the ground up, taking time to analyze , assess and address our posture and examine our performance while we perform those actions so we can keep on enjoying doing them for many years to come, each one of us to its own physical limits, aspirations and personal goals.
Movement intelligence: If functional movement is the basis for our overall health and well being, movement intelligence as I consider it is where the real magic can begin.
Movement intelligence is what differentiates a professional athlete, a basketball player or a dancer from any other person who can run, jump or lift well.
This is the icing on the cake that makes the cake even more worth eating.
It does not mean at all that intelligent movement practice is some area that should be trained only by professionals, because exactly here we have the great chance to learn from professionals and create a whole new world with a vast variety of options for us to move, perform, express and create a paradigm shift in our bodily experience. Inorder to get a better understanding about movement intelligence let's zoom out for a bit and reflect about what is actually intelligence.
There are many interpretations for Intelligence but intelligence, the way I consider it is the ability to recognize, understand, comprehend, infer and remember information and then use all this information exactly in the right time and in the right place, in a quick, effective and fluent manner, perhaps even semi automatic, reflexively at times and even unconscious.
It's easier to explain movement intelligence when we parallel it to language. It's estimated that the English language contains a bit more than 1,000,000 words. From these words, about 170,000 are in frequent use, and the research suggests that the average English speaker has a vocabulary of about 20,000 - 30,000 words.
That's why when we look at professional athletes or a professional dancers we are often in awe of their abilities to make use of their bodies in those great forces, speeds, heights and ranges with so much effortlessness and ease, its as everything seems to be on autopilot.
Such is the difference when we would have a conversation with the average native speaker vs conversing or listening to a writer or a poet.
Poetry in motion is the place where magic happens and it opens the door for us to tap into our finest abilities and potential to perform and express ourselves using our own bodies.
The practice of movement intelligence, often time seem to contradict the functional practice, we are often practicing movements that would not be considered the most often used and efficient movements (remember the 20,000-30,000 words) but we actually work on enriching our vocabulary of movement, but in a deep level, so we can understand its meaning, and how it can assist us in time of need and make use of it, adjust it, or modify it in whatever way we wish or need in the right place and in the right time.
Movement as a means for expression: I have long been obsessed about movement as a means for expression precisely because of the fact that the modern world doesn't seem to care about it too much and does not allow it enough room in today's culture.
We all know we should exercise to be more healthy and to look better, but what ever happened to our most ancient form of self expression? Throughout time and for the longest time, movement has always been our first tool for self expression and communication. Since emotions are experienced in the body on an almost absolut physical level, It makes the most sense that we should be able to process, express and communicate them with our bodies normally, naturally and freely in a consistent manner as well, without having to deal social and cultural behavioral constraints that create mental barriers in our physicality.
In today's world it's common for people to dance in a nightclub or weddings consuming alcohol or drugs that helps them lose some inhibitions to express a bit, but in a very space specific, confined and predetermined manner.
What happens when you needs to express sadness or grief? Where can you go then? You can ofcourse go to a therapist and talk it out, which is great and has its own stand alone values and depths, but my only question is why dont you go to the studio first and move your sadness and grief away?
Luckily this theme is becoming more and more acknowledged, moving solely for the sake of feeling and expressing is not any more kept solely for professional dancers, or loose hippies, we are all entitled to fully express, process, communicate and connect deeply with our own bodies and should encouraged to celebrate and take as often use as we can of this great gift that we have.
So what do we do next?
Like we discussed in the beginning each one of these areas allows any movement practitioner a lifetime of possibilities and research. Its also notable that each one of these areas can stand on its own independent of the others, although I would argue for that not to be an ideal manner to approach movement practice if youre looking to optimize your overall own well being.
For example a professional dancer could go on stage injured and unable to perform even some of the basic functional movement but still perform and mesmerize an entire theater, this could be regarded as a situation of high movement intelligence (case specific to dance ofcourse) and low (and hopefully just temporary ad not chronic) movement capacity.
Another beautiful and inspiring example that I can think of is of one time I was watching a woman dancing and moving in an ecstatic dance event while riding on her wheelchair. I remember thinking to myself that this woman had so much light, joy and radiance shining through her face and body expression as she was moving around the dance floor, and with so much more mental freedom, way beyond most of the participants dancing on the dance floor that night. This was an extreme case of course but it emphasizes how important it is for each one of us to move and express with our movement through and despite our own mental barriers and physical limitations.
With all that said, as we regard optimal movement practice, with the goal of a balanced lifestyle and an overall physical, mental and emotional well being. I believe it's important to make sure that you are incorporating and developing in all these 3 areas within your daily practice. It might sound complicated and somewhat unclear how exactly to do this but if you follow a bit of Decoding Motion online you could get a lot of information and inspiration of how to do that. Just remember, impatience is a fight with reality, so be patient, take your time, start slowly and progress gradually and consistently. And if you need any help feel free to reach out.
Good luck,
Iftach.
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